by mike | Feb 18, 2019 | Books, Bookstores, Films About Books, Life, Movies, Uncategorized |
Book lovers are special people. (Yes, I’m biased, but what the heck.) The theme is especially prevalent in the 2017 drama, The Bookshop. The film, a period piece set in England, has an impressive cast that includes Emily Mortimer, Bill Nighy, and Patricia Clarkson. It...
by mike | Aug 27, 2018 | Books, Bookstores, California, Editing, Historical Novels, Publishing, Thrillers, Uncategorized, Writing |
The second annual San Diego Union-Tribune Festival of Books took place this past Saturday at Liberty Station. Last year’s inaugural event drew upwards of 10,000 people, and I’m pretty sure the 2018 version outdid that number. I got to sign my two award-winning novels,...
by mike | Jul 26, 2018 | Books, Bookstores, Horror, Humor, Psychological Thrillers, Science Fiction, Uncategorized, Writing |
We horror writers face a different sort of horror on the book-signing circuit. This post first ran in 2014. That line, and Stephen King’s Misery—which I wrote about last week—are apparently inseparable. In the hope of finding some more material I entered “writers’...
by mike | Oct 17, 2016 | Books, Bookstores, California, Life, Publishing, Thrillers, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing |
Just got home from the beautiful town of Idyllwild, a mile high in the San Jacinto Mountains of southern California, where I take my bride every October to celebrate her birthday. It is a breathtaking place, both literally and figuratively. So as usual, this post will...
by mike | Sep 26, 2016 | Books, Bookstores, Editing, Films About Books, Films About Writers, Horror, Horror Movies, Movies, Nightmares, Publishing, Uncategorized, Writing |
It is pretty well accepted that reading books can influence people in many ways, both positively and negatively. But can they drive readers to madness and murder? In the Mouth of Madness, the bizarre 1995 film—its title is an homage to H.P. Lovecraft’s At the...
by mike | Aug 1, 2016 | Books, Bookstores, Films About Books, Movies, Uncategorized |
This 1998 romantic comedy stars Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, one of the most popular couples in that genre. But You’ve Got Mail offers another sobering reality from that era: the Big Box discount store pushing out the Mom and Pop shop of days gone by. In this story we’re...
